Box Score I Box Score (.pdf) I Photo Gallery I Video Highlights I IUPUI Postgame Press Conference

INDIANAPOLIS - Undoubtedly both Alex Young and Ian Chiles have aspirations to play in the NBA one day. On Monday (Dec. 19) night, the duo were the two best players on the Indiana Pacers' home floor as the Jaguars picked off Ball State, 66-57. Young scored 17 of his game-high 22 points in the second half and Chiles finished with 17 as IUPUI used a strong start to the second half to win its third-in-a-row and snap BSU's six-game winning streak in the process. The win avenged an earlier loss to the Cardinals as BSU knocked off the Jaguars 69-62 in Muncie in late November and improved IUPUI to 6-4 all-time at Conseco Fieldhouse.

"We knew it was going to be a tough game," IUPUI head coach Todd Howard said. "I don't think our team is what our record is. We're really three shots away from reversing that, but that doesn't matter. All that matters is who you play next and what practice is like tomorrow."

"Lately, we've really been emphasizing on ball movement," Young said. "Up there, I forced a lot of shots and they did a good job of help side (defense).

"Tonight, I did a better job of letting the game come to me."

Chiles led the way in the first half, scoring 15 points on 6-of-9 shooting including 3-of-4 from three, biding time until Young got hot in the second half.  A more patient Young hit 7-of-16 from the floor, including a pair of treys, and 6-of-6 from the foul line to go along with seven boards and a pair of blocked shots. The rest of the IUPUI roster made just 9-of-30 from the floor and 1-of-7 from beyond the arc.

"Ian hit some timely shots. When he's playing at a high level with Alex and with Stephen Thomas, those three are going to be hard to handle," Howard said.

In the early going it was Ball State (6-3) that was hard to handle as the Cardinals started the game with an 8-0 run. BSU senior Jarrod Jones did the bulk of the damage on the low block, scoring six of the game's first eight points prompting Howard to call a quick 30-second timeout. His troops responded with a 13-2 run of their own with Chiles scoring seven during the burst. The game of runs continued as Ball State tallied nine in succession, the first seven coming from Tyler Koch before Jones added the final two at the free throw line.

Again, IUPUI (5-8) answered with back-to-back threes by Marcellus Barksdale and Young to tie the score at 19 all with 7:03 left before halftime. Ball State took a 26-20 lead after Randy Davis hit a pair of free throws, but the Jaguars closed the first half with a 13-3 rally to lead 32-29 at the break. Chiles hit a pair of triples during the run including a hotly contested attempt from the top of the key with a minute left to cap the first half scoring and draw a collective gasp from the Conseco crowd.

IUPUI essentially landed the knockout blow at the start of the second half by virtue of a 17-4 rally that spanned more than six minutes. The majority of the points came as IUPUI bettered Ball State off the offensive glass, leading to multiple second chance opportunities. A tip-in by Lyonell Gaines made it 36-29 with 18:33 and later he tipped in a Young miss to push the lead to 43-33. On the next possession, Young missed a second chance, but finally tipped in a third opportunity to push the lead to 12.

The possession that epitomized the Jaguars' win on Monday night came with just under seven minutes to play and IUPUI clinging to a 54-45 lead. With the shot clock winding down, Stephen Thomas missed badly on a rushed three-point attempt, only to see a long rebound go to Chiles. Chiles airballed his attempt, but Young plucked the offensive rebound and dropped in a 4-footer as the shot clock expired, pushing the lead back to 11.

The Jaguars had led by as many as 16 in the second half but had to fend off the hard charging Cards down the stretch. The IUPUI lead was trimmed to 62-57 with 1:02 left when Jones hit a pair of free throws, but senior Christian Siakam matched the effort when he was intentionally fouled in the backcourt as BSU extended the game. IUPUI got the stop it needed with under 50 seconds to play when BSU missed an initial three-point attempt and then Gaines picked off a Davis pass after the BSU point guard had claimed the offensive board.

IUPUI, ranked 26th nationally in free throw percentage, hit 2-of-4 down the stretch and finished the game at 80 percent in the win.

Jones led three Cardinals in double-digits with 16 points on just 5-of-13 shooting and Chris Bond contributed 13 points and eight caroms. Jones had a career-high 26 points in the first meeting between the two schools, but was limited to his third lowest scoring output of the season on Monday night.

"I thought we did a very good job of holding him to five makes and even holding him to 13 shot attempts is hard to do," Howard said.

IUPUI finished the game with a 36-30 advantage on the glass and 17-4 edge in second chance points. Gaines had eight points and seven boards (six offensive) and Siakam put up seven points and four boards off the bench.

"We really challenged our guys," Howard said. "We knew it was going to come down to the backboards, the rebounding and second chance points. For us to come out of here and outscore them 17 to four in second chance points, I thought was exceptional."

The win improved IUPUI to 1-6 all-time against Ball State with the program's previous victory having been vacated by the NCAA. The Jaguars also improved to 5-3 at home this season and 6-4 all-time at Conseco Fieldhouse.

IUPUI's six-game homestand and two-game Conseco Fieldhouse stretch will continue on Friday (Dec. 23) when the Jaguars host Valparaiso in a 1:00 p.m. tip-off. Scott McCauley (pxp) will call the game on WNDE with pregame coverage beginning at approximately 12:50. In addition, the game can be viewed on IUPUIJags.com as part of the IUPUI LIVE! subscription service.

Reserved seats are just $15 and IUPUI students are admitted for free at the door with a valid JagTag.